Democrats to counter Hobby Lobby

Senate Democrats plan to introduce a bill as soon as Wednesday that they say would override the Supreme Court’s recent Hobby Lobby decision.

The measure, from Sens. Patty Murray of Washington and Mark Udall of Colorado, would prohibit companies from discriminating against female employees in any health coverage that is guaranteed under federal law, according to a summary obtained by POLITICO. The bill also says that no federal law, including the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, allows an employer to refuse to comply with the health care law’s preventive services requirement.

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The court’s decision allowed companies like Hobby Lobby to skirt the Affordable Care Act’s birth control coverage mandate if their owners have sincerely held religious beliefs against the use of contraceptives. In a 5-4 ruling, the justices said the mandate violated RFRA. However, Chief Justice John Roberts had suggested during oral arguments that Congress could remedy the problem by exempting Obamacare from the religious freedom law.

In the House, Democratic Reps. Louise Slaughter, Diana DeGette and Jerry Nadler plan to introduce an identical companion bill Wednesday. But their effort stands little chance of being taken up by House GOP leaders, who roundly praised the Hobby Lobby ruling. The Republicans said the contraception requirement illegally restricted the owners’ rights to exercise their religious beliefs.

Like Udall, other Democrats up for re-election this year also are pushing back. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire held a roundtable on women’s health; Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley’s campaign blasted opponent Monica Wehby’s support for the ruling in an e-mail.

Senate Democrats had made clear well before the court’s June 30 ruling that they would introduce legislation to undo an adverse decision. The bill’s details were first reported by The New York Times.

The Murray-Udall proposal would include an exemption for houses of worship and the Obama administration’s accommodation for religious nonprofits, which is the subject of separate litigation. According to the summary, the bill would also prevent employers from using the Hobby Lobby decision to deny coverage of other preventive services such as vaccines.

That’s not all the Senate is doing on women’s health next week.

The Judiciary Committee plans to hold a hearing on the Women’s Health Protection Act of 2013, which would make it illegal for state or local governments to put certain limits on abortion access. No government would be able to limit an abortion provider’s ability to prescribe certain drugs, for instance, or to restrict medical training for abortion procedures. The act would also prohibit governments from requiring that women make additional visits to a doctor before obtaining an abortion.

The law is a clear reaction to the numerous states that have approved abortion restrictions in recent years.